If Albert and Pouncey are both out again, forget running the football.

I totally hear where you're coming from, but I'm not so sure. Tunsil has developed into a pretty good run blocker. I don't know where Urbik falls on the spectrum. Steen seemed fine, at least in pass blocking, it's a good bet he's not up to Pouncey's level in the running game - Pouncey is elite there.

However, when we started Dallas Thomas and Douglas against Tennessee, there are a couple things to consider on why it went so badly.

First, they are not close to the caliber of Tunsil / Urbik. I'm pretty confident they are not even on a practice squad right now. That illustrates how poor they are from a raw talent perspective.

Second, Gase was still trying to work his up-tempo, pass-heavy offense. So we were putting that bad line into pass protection most of the time.

Finally, our defense was playing much worse than it is now. Complementary football was not in the equation at all.

I still think we will stick to the run tomorrow, which takes pressure off the offensive line. Ajayi will almost certainly break a few long runs once he reaches the second level.

Our defense should be able to handle the Rams well enough to win time of possession, allowing us to wear down the Rams defense. I expect some turnovers also, either poor decisions by Goff or sack/fumble turnovers.

We will have to play well to offset the loss of Albert and Pouncey, but it can definitely still happen. We can't afford sloppy play or special teams gaffes in this one.

You've given me some good points to be optimistic on. My main issue right now though is really Pouncey being out where the running game is concerned, that and the line calls. As you said, Pouncey is elite, and he's a big reason that Ajayi is having his success. Pouncey's second-level blocking is extremely good, due to his quickness, and that opens up that second tier because he gets out there and takes out a gap filler. We're going to miss that heavily, but if Gase is as smart as it seems he can be when he applies his gray matter, we may see a heavy dose of screens, counters (I SO MISS WELL-EXECUTED COUNTER PLAYS), perhaps the odd trap here and there, to take advantage of an overzealous defense.

I don't know, I just want to win again. It's been forever and a day since we've been able to genuinely feel like we're in it. We pull this one out and we're genuinely in it.

Losing Tunsil during this game was almost the nail in the coffin for this offense. I think Gase changed up his playcalling during those last two drives. That, and Tannehill executed perfectly.

Still, I was impressed that Ajayi was as effective as he was, especially after Tunsil went down. Averaging 4.8 yards per rush is good against anyone, the Rams have been playing excellent defense over the past four weeks and Donald has graded out better than any DT in the league - even Suh.

I'm hoping Albert is back this week, and Tunsil can play LG. Pouncey will probably be out, but it would be ideal if he's the only starter we are missing.